Running for Fire
by Neru Vearin
Summary: After Kirino Ranmaru was run out of town for being born with the magic that the enemy posses, she meets a few people that make her life a little bit better. When she's put on the run with her friends to avoid being captured and used as a weapon, she's forced to escape to another realm where magic isn't real and the people live in modern times. MAJOR AU Rantaku Fem!kirino
1. Chapter 1

**Look who's back with another weird AU! First of all, no I have not abandoned Kirino's 'Tail'. I just don't know what to write next. I wanna to hurry up and get them out of the basements so I can ki-**  
**Almost gave away spoiler whoops!**

**Anyways, enough talk about my other fics, onto this new one!**

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Music played in the lively streets of a medieval town on a warm summer afternoon. Festival banners were strewn about and people crowded the busy streets.  
One of those people was a teenage girl with long pink waist-length hair, and bright blue eyes. Beside her was a girl with blue hair in 2 buns and violet eyes.  
"Kirino-chan, how could you forget the festival today?"  
"Sorry Beta, I had to help the ladies at the orphanage again…"  
Beta frowned, "Do you even remember what this festival is about?"  
"Of course!" Kirino insisted before pausing, "It's about when the water-users defeated the fire-users in war!"  
Yes, that's right. Fire and water users. Fire magic and water magic. You see, this is no ordinary realm. This is a realm trapped in time, where the era will never change. A land of magic and wonders! Unfortunately, this land is divided.  
The water-users, who consider themselves to be the most powerful, live by the ocean in a collection of towns and cities. The town that we are focusing on is beside a magical forest.  
The fire users, after being defeated, scattered and live in fear of the water users, as if they are caught they will be tortured and killed.  
There are many other cities, towns and kingdoms that house all sorts of magic around the land, but the water-users have never been, as they are afraid something will overpower them, and they have a fear of anyone who is stronger than themselves.  
Now let's look at our characters. Kirino Ranmaru, a 14-year old girl who was found as a baby by the edge of the forest without any parents or guardians.  
But she has a secret. She is a fire-user. She is the very thing that everyone around her fears so much that they so far as to kill and fire-users they come across. But how long can she keep her secret?  
Now, let's get back to our story!  
"Why don't you participate in some of the games? You've been in that orphanage all day! Have some fun!" Beta encouraged her friend.  
Kirino shook her head, "Beta, you know my powers haven't awakened yet. All of these games require water powers!" Of course, Kirino had lied. Her powers had awakened long ago, they just were not water powers.  
"Sorry, guess I forgot!" Beta said quickly, "I don't know why you don't have your powers yet, unless….You don't have water powers after all!" She said jokingly, unknowing that she had just set off a bomb.  
"I have water powers!" Kirino nearly screamed, turning around and crossing her arms, "They just haven't come yet!"  
"Are you sure?" Beta pressed on. She knew she was annoying her friend, and that was one of her greatest pleasures: annoying people.  
"I am sure! They'll come eventually!" Kirino insisted once again.  
Beta giggled, "Are you sure you're not… A _fire user_?" Beta joked, although Kirino took it a lot more seriously than a joke.  
"I'm not a fire user!" What started out as a sentence turned into a yell and before anyone could turn to see what all the yelling was about, a nearby bush caught on fire.  
Everyone stared at Kirino and Beta began to back away. Kirino made a slight hand movement and the fire went out, begging that not to many saw, but it was too late. It was over. It was all over.  
At that moment, havoc erupted on the city streets! People ran and screamed, the words "Fire user! A fire user has snuck into the village!" were heard more than anything.  
The law-enforcers plowed through the crowd, and Kirino backed away from them, tears in her eyes. Beta looked at her with a betrayed look on her face. Kirino had no idea why though, she was the one who ruined everything!  
Before the law enforcers grabbed her, Kirino turned and ran as fast as her legs could take her into the woods, ignoring the orders that were being barked at her from her law enforcers. She ran and ran until she could barely breathe, and she couldn't hear the law enforcers anymore.  
Kirino collapsed against a tree, crying her eyes out. Her life was over. They all knew. She'd be killed if she tried to go back!  
Suddenly, someone's shadow blocked out the warm summer sun and a soft voice spoke to her,  
"Why are you crying?"  
Kirino looked up in shock to see an older woman with brown hair in a ponytail and soft brown eyes.  
"Why are you even talking to me," Kirino said through her sobs, "I'm a _fire user_ after all."  
The lady smiled,  
"You're a fire user? Me to!"  
Kirino gave a small gasp and stared at the woman, who reached her hand out to the pink-haired girl,  
"Come with me, my friends are fire users to! Then you won't have to be alone in the forest!"  
Kirino slowly reached her hand upwards and brought it into the other woman's and let herself be pulled up from the ground.  
"Why are you alone out here anyways?" The brown-haired woman asked her.  
"I-I was run out of town cause I'm a fire user."  
The woman gave a small smile and began to walk, gesturing for Kirino to follow her.  
"I was run out to," The woman admit, "But that was a long time ago!" There was a shot pause before she spoke again, "My name is Grace. What's yours?"  
"Kirino Ranmaru." The pink-haired girl replied shly.  
The sound of music and the smell of a crackling bonfire entered the air,  
"Here we are!" Grace announced, grabbing Kirino's wrist and pulling her into a clearing.  
4 gypsy caravan trailers were in a half-circle around the clearing and in the center were about 5 people around a bonfire. The first one to notice them, a teenager with long auburn hair with eyes the same color, stood up to greet them,  
"Grace! You're back!" She smiled at Kirino, "Who's this?"  
"This is Kirino, she was run out of the village since she's a fire-user!"  
"Welcome to our camp, then! You came on a good day, Grace promised to make out favorite meal tonight. _Didn't you?"_ The brown-orange haired girl said, staring intently at Grace until the older woman sighed and answered, "Fine."  
"Natsumi!" The girl that had come to greet them turned at the mention of her name and a boy with brown hair and an orange headband was calling her over from the other side of the camp. Natsumi gave a small wave before running off.  
"Everyone's a fire user here." Grace explained, "Since we didn't have anywhere to go, we all ended up gathering together. You can join us if you'd like!"  
Kirino stared at Grace, "R-really, but I only just met you and-"  
Kirino was cut off when Grace yelled to the rest if the people in the clearing, "Hey everyone! This is Kirino! She'll be with us from now on!"  
A few people waved and said hello before going back to their tasks. Grace pushed Kirino into the area,  
"Go meet some of the others! As Natsumi said earlier, I have some cooking to do!"

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**See, weird and rushed. Like usual.  
Anyways, don't forget to leave a review on your way out!**


	2. Chapter 2

-3 months later-

The caravan of fire-using gypsys lurched to a stop in a familiar clearing. Kiyama Hiroto, who was directing the horses that pulled them along, dismounted and started to unhook to the horses to let them graze.  
Kirino swung open the door to the third trailer and stepped out with a sigh, "It's been so long since I've even been in this forest. Not since…" She trailed off.  
Natsumi jumped out after her along with Endou, and noticing that she was remembering all of her sad memories, Endou pulled Kirino farther into the clearing, come on, let's get the bonfire set up! You can light it!" He promised, running off to get the supplies for it. Kirino and Natsumi giggled as they watched him run off.  
There was a sudden rustle in the bushed and everyone in the area looked at that spot intently until a blue-haired girl with purple eyes and her hair in two bund emerged,  
"Long time to see, Kirino-chan."  
"_Beta" _Kirino hissed, glaring at her former friend.  
Beta frowned, "No need to get all hissy. It's just me!"  
"What do you want?" Kirino asked flatly.  
"We want you back." Beta replied, surprising Kirino,  
"We….?"  
"The water users."  
Kirino frowned, "Water users chased me out of town. Why would they want me back?"  
"Because we believe that we can train you to use your fire powers to help us!"  
"What if I don't want to go back?"  
Beta turned away, "_fine_" She snapped at the pink-haired fire-user, "I'll be back. And you _will_ come home." She said before walking away.  
"Pack everything up again." Grace said coldly, "We're leaving." She turned to Kirino, "Most importantly, you're leaving."  
Kirino gasped,  
"B-But you're just going to leave me, where will I go? What will I-"  
Grace cut Kirino off with a small laugh, "We're not abandoning you! We're taking you somewhere safe!" She turned away, "Follow me, Ranmaru!"  
Kirino nodded and nervously followed Grace into the woods. When they were alone, grace took out a flat blue stone with a carving on it and showed it to Kirino,  
"Do you know what this is?"  
Kirino nodded, "T-that's a portal stone isn't it? But the carvings are kind of weird…"  
"That's right," Grace began, "You know what kind of people the water users are. They're persistent. The only place that I know they can't get you in is in another realm." Kirino gasped,  
"A-another realm! Portals can do that!?"  
Grace giggled at Kirino's response and nodded, "I have a friend in this realm that will take care of you, you can stay with her until we can get the water-users to give up." After that she dropped the blue stone on the ground, and as she muttered something in what seemed like gibberish, it disappeared, only to be replaced by a bright blue swirling portal. Grace Held Kirino's hand as they entered the portal together.  
Kirino opened her eyes to see a huge blue and white mansion behind a gate before her,  
"I still remember how to get an exact location!" Grace praised herself. She pressed a small button on the side of the gate and a woman's voice came out of a speaker, surprising Kirino,  
"Who is it?" The voice asked.  
"It's me." Grace replied. There was a gasp before she got a reply, "Grace? Is that you! The gates are open, come in right away!" A low click sounded and Kirino pushed open the gates, letting Grace pass through before following her up the long grey stone path to the mansion.

Before they even reached the door, it opened up to reveal a woman in a neat pantsuit and short curly brown hair. She gave a large grin as she saw Grace,  
"It is you!" She exclaimed, "What on earth are you doing here?"  
"I need to ask you a favor." Grace said with a smile. The woman nodded,  
"Anything!"  
Grace gestured to Kirino, "Something has happened and I need to hide Kirino here from the water-users. Could you take care of her for a little while?"  
The woman smiled,  
"Of course! She stepped aside, "Why don't you come in Kirino? Grace, would you like to stay for some tea?"  
Grace had a small smile on her face,  
"I'd love to, but I really must be heading back! Everyone needs me!"  
The woman nodded, "I understand, but you must come visit sometime!"  
"I will!" Grace replied before pulling another portal stone out from her bag and disappearing.

The woman turned to Kirino, who was staring at the house,  
"I'm Shindou Kinko!" She introduced herself, making sure Kirino was walking beside her as she walked into the mansion,  
"Grace is a close friend of mine from when she got dumped here when she was first learning portal magic!" She explained, "I'm happy to take care of any friend of Grace!"  
"Thank you for letting me stay here!" Kirino said shyly, bowing to Kinko.  
Kinko smiled, and they arrived in a room with 2 large couches, a TV and a grand piano,  
"They don't you sit down and I'll make some tea?" Kinko asked. Kirino nodded as she sat down at one of the Sofa's, staring around with wide eyes.  
A few minutes passes and Kirino heard Kinko talking to someone else about Tea when she heard footsteps. In the hall outside a teenage boy appeared from the bottom of the stairs. He had brown eyes and short curly brown hair. _He looks a lot liken Kinko-san…_ Kirino thought.  
The boy looked at her for a few moments. Or should I say staring? Well he couldn't help it! There was a pretty girl he'd never seen before sitting on his couch dressed head to toe in medieval clothing.  
Kirino eventually turned away and shivered. It sure was cold in this house. Kirino spotted a fireplace and shot a flame at it, lighting up a fire in the fireplace before remembering something: _shoot_ she thought, _Grace said people here don't have magic!_  
She turned back to the boy who was staring at her, then switched his gaze to the fireplace, then back to her.  
"So I'm guessing you're a fire user, right?" Kinko asked she re-entered the room before noticing her son standing in the doorway, staring at Kirino. Speaking of him, he finally entered the room and walked over to where his mother was placing a tray of Tea on the coffee table.  
"Mom, what was-"  
Kinko cut him off, "I'll explain soon, Takuto. Sit down and meet our guest." She told him quietly.  
Shindou Takuto, as he was now known to be, sat down beside Kirino. He held his hand out to her,  
"I'm Shindou Takuto. You are?" He asked.  
Kirino, on the other hand, stood up, and gave a quick bow before sitting down again,  
"I'm Kirino Ranmaru." She said shyly, staring at the hand that was still outreached to her,  
"It's a handshake, you're supposed to take my hand. It's a form of greeting." Shindou said, feeling the need that it needed to be explained.  
"Oh…" Kirino muttered as she shook Shindou's hand.  
"This is my son, Shindou Takuto." Kinko repeated, continuing before Shindou could say anything, "Takuto, I'm sure you have a lot of questions. But first you need to promise to keep this a secret!"  
"I promise!" He said in response, rolling his eyes. His mother smiled,  
"Good, now I'm warning you, none of this will make much sense!"  
Shindou shrugged, "I'm ready for it."  
"Kirino here is from another realm where magic is real and people are after her so she'll be staying with us until it's safe for her to go back home!"

"Oh…Wait, WHAT?" Shindou exclaimed in shock, staring at Kirino,  
"Y-You're from another realm…?"  
"Kirino, would you like to elaborate on that? I don't know too much about where you're from. All I know is that it's magical and it's trapped in a medieval era."  
_that would explain the clothes. _Shindou thought, upon hearing that Kirino was from a medieval world.  
"Go on, don't be shy!" Kinko prompted.  
"It's a big world filled with magic. Water magic is thought to be the most powerful. Then there's also fire magic. The water-users don't like them because of a war that happened centuries ago. They found out I was a fire-user 3 months ago so they ran me out of town. I joined a travelling caravan until the water-users demanded I come back so they can use my magic to their benefit. I was brought here to stay safe from them until they get the water-users to stop wanting me."  
"Oh." Shindou said as he let out a breath, "Sounds complicated."  
"it is." Kirino agreed.  
Kinko stood up,  
"Kirino, come with me, I'm going to see if we have any clothes for you that fit in more!"  
"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" Kirino asked, looking down at the dress that grace had made for her.  
Kinko picked up a magazine off the coffee table and handed it to Kirino, "This is the kind of clothing popular in our realm."  
Kirino looked at it for 5 seconds before saying, "this looked ridiculous."  
Kinko laughed, "To you it must! But you stick out like a sore thumb in that dress! Let's get you changed!"  
Kirino sighed as she followed Kinko up the stairs, waving at Shindou as she left.

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**I this typed up the while time but i was to lazy to actually put it up  
Anyways, don't forget to leave a review on your way out!**


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